Twisted Fate
by Sophia Hawkins
Summary: AU oneshot. Spoilers for "Best Friend Magic" if you haven't seen the episode. A reworking of the series of events from season 8 so far.


Twisted Fate

Matt Casey found himself knelt on the floor of Severide's bathroom with his head in the toilet as he was continually, violently sick, as he had been for several minutes. The noise had been enough to wake Kelly and bring him stumbling half asleep into the room. He knelt down beside Matt and placed his hands on Casey's shoulders as his whole body heaved.

"Easy, easy, take a breath," Kelly told him as he rubbed Casey's back, "calm down."

Casey breathed hard and heavy, which did him no good and he just lapsed into another violent bout of nausea as he doubled over the toilet.

"Boy this brings back memories," Kelly commented, reminding of his younger days when he drank far heavier than he'd ever think to now, and was always hungover and sick as a dog the next day. Why it still seemed like a good idea to him to keep it up every night was beyond him now. "Kind of a role reversal though." He kneaded the flesh of Casey's back in a circle as Matt went through another episode of shaking and shallow breaths. Kelly thought back to that night, he remembered them having a couple beers with dinner but didn't remember Casey drinking more than that.

"You're okay, just calm down," he said as Matt finally stopped heaving and retching and the muscles in his back relaxed. "What happened, dinner didn't agree with you?"

Casey reached for the lever and flushed the toilet, then stood up and barely managed to drag himself to the sink as he doubled over and rinsed out his mouth.

"I slept with her," he got the words out in an acidic tone.

"Who?" Kelly asked, still half asleep in spite of all the noise.

Casey rinsed his mouth out again and shut off the tap. "Gabby."

"What?" Kelly's eyes were wide open now.

"What the hell are you doing?" Casey asked as he suddenly felt a hand pressing against his forehead, and the other one pressing equally firmly against the back of his head.

"Well you don't have a fever," Kelly said, then he moved his hand to Casey's neck, "and your pulse seems normal. Are you sure you didn't hit your head?"

Casey blew his nose and told Kelly, "I had a nightmare. Gabby came back-"

"That's a nightmare alright," Severide responded.

"It's not funny, Kelly," Casey said defensively.

"Okay, I'm sorry," he said soberly, "what happened?"

"Gabby came back...said she was in town for a fundraiser, asked me to come...I went..."

"Big surprise," Kelly said. He didn't miss the sharp glare Casey was throwing him, but stood his ground and added, "I'm sorry, Casey, but it's true and you know it, when she was here, you were-"

"Were what?" Casey asked.

"Her lapdog," Kelly answered, and only half jokingly snapped his fingers and pointed as he barked out, "Run, Casey, fetch, Casey, sit, Casey, roll over and play dead, Casey."

"I get it already," Casey was not amused.

"I'm sorry," Kelly said seriously again, "okay, go on."

Casey was a bit more hesitant now as he recalled, "She had this black dress on...she looked gorgeous...I had a new suit on...she asked me to dance with her."

Kelly let out a small bark.

"Kelly."

"Sorry...so did you?"

Casey nodded, "I heard this music, and we just...went around, and around...and around..."

"Hope you threw up on her," Kelly said.

"I went back with her to her hotel room and I slept with her."

"_Why_?" Kelly asked.

"I _don't know_," Casey answered, sounding just as lost as Kelly felt. "The whole time in my head this voice was screaming at me that it was a mistake, I didn't care, I couldn't stop myself."

"And?" Kelly asked, somehow just knowing it wouldn't be left there.

"And I left the next morning...she was heading back to Puerto Rico...she sent me a message, inviting me to join her at Puerto Rico."

"You didn't say yes, did you?" Kelly asked.

"I...it didn't get that far...I don't know if I would've," Casey said. His stomach was gurgling and he turned on his heel, "I think I'm gonna be sick again."

"Take it easy, Casey, it was just a nightmare," Kelly told him.

"It felt so real, Kelly...it was like I was watching myself and I knew it was wrong and I couldn't stop anyway," Matt said with an exhausted sigh, "First Brett, then Gabby-"

"_You slept with Brett too_?" Kelly asked in total disbelief.

"No!" Casey replied. "No...but...I don't know...it was like...there was something between us."

Kelly's eyes were opened to their maximum capacity as he tried to wrap his head around that one. "You and Brett? You don't even have anything in common."

"I know that," Casey said. "_Stop_ looking at me like that!"

"Like what?"

"Kelly, I've never even _thought_ of her like that, you should know that by now."

"Who does?" Kelly replied. "How long _was_ this nightmare?"

"I don't know," Casey said hopelessly, "What month is this?"

"May."

Casey blinked and did a double take. "What?"

"It's May."

"May...not November?" Casey asked.

"Matt, it's 80 degrees outside," Kelly pointed out, "have you ever lived through a November in Chicago it was 80 degrees?"

"May?" Casey repeated, "It's still May? But, the mattress factory fire..."

"What about it?" Kelly asked.

"What do you mean what about it? Otis..."

"Otis what?" Kelly asked helplessly.

_What_? Casey couldn't believe it, if it was still May, could Kelly really be that cruel?

"Otis died in that fire, Kelly." Did he really not remember?

Now it was Kelly who blinked, and even took a step back, "What? Whoa, hold on, you must've had more than one nightmare, Casey. Otis isn't dead."

"He is, we were there, we saw him," Casey said, "and now Gallo's on Truck and-"

"Wait, what? Who the hell is Gallo?" Kelly asked.

Casey looked at him with wide eyes. "You're serious? You don't know?"

"Who the fuck is Gallo?" Kelly asked.

Slowly, the pieces were starting to fall in place for Casey. "Otis is still alive? He didn't die in the explosion?"

"No."

"And...we don't have somebody new working at 51?"

"Well Ritter but he's been around a little long to still be 'new'," Kelly said.

Casey slowly nodded though he wasn't sure he was getting it all. "And you're not working at OFI?"

"What?" Kelly asked. "What the hell are you talking about?"

"Grissom tried to transfer you to OFI, said it was just temporary to clear up their backlog, there was this woman..."

"Casey, I wouldn't be caught dead at OFI and you know it," Kelly told him. "How the hell long were you asleep?"

Casey shook his head, "I don't know...what time is it anyway?"

"2:30," Kelly answered.

Casey groaned as he covered his face with his hands. This was all too much, his head felt like it was going to explode.

"Okay," Kelly said in a slightly annoyed tone, "I can see it's going to be one of _those_ nights...you go get parked on the couch, I'll grab a couple beers."

"I can't drink beer after throwing up that much," Casey told him.

"Who said anything about _you_?" Kelly asked teasingly as he left the bathroom, "I'm getting them for me."

* * *

"Here we are," Kelly said as he entered the living room and sat down beside Matt on the couch, "A beer for me, a Sprite for you."

"Thanks."

"You feeling any better now?" Kelly asked.

"A little," Casey answered as he took a sip, "but I'm still trying to figure this out. So, _everything_ was a dream, _all_ of it?"

"Well, to recap," Kelly counted off on his fingers, "Otis is alive, Stella didn't crash her car into anybody, we've never even _heard_ of anybody named Gallo, I'm still leading Squad and I have no intention of transferring to OFI any time between now and when hell freezes over, Gabby as far as we know is in Puerto Rico and for everybody's sake better keep her ass down there, and," he choked on a small laugh, "Brett..."

"Shut up," Casey reached over and weakly punched him.

"You must have one hell of a subconscious to be dreaming about her, Casey."

"Shut up!" he repeated as he hit Severide again.

"I'm sorry," Kelly laughed, "It's just too funny, mousy little Brett, and you," he pinched the bridge of his nose as he doubled over in a wheezing fit of laughter.

"I am _so_ glad I decided to talk to you about this," Casey sarcastically responded, "you are _so_ much help."

Kelly held up one hand as he tried to control himself, "I'm sorry, I just can't help it, it's too-too funny..."

Casey rolled his eyes and groaned, "I'm scared to go to sleep and you're having the time of your life at my expense, this is just great."

Kelly got out a couple more snorts but managed to restrain himself. "I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Casey, I know you're upset...hell, anybody _would_ be after a dream like that."

"I'm scared, Kelly," Casey bluntly said as he set his drink down and leaned against Severide.

"Of what?"

"If Gabby would come back...if I actually _wouldn't_ be able to stop myself," Casey admitted. "When she walked out, I just _knew_ that she'd never have that kind of hold on me again...it's been easy because she only came back once and that was to get her stuff, there wasn't time...or opportunity...what if she did...and we did...and _I_ did...could I really be that stupid? Could I really be that...pathetic?"

"Okay, tell me something, Casey," Kelly said as he pulled his friend against him and massaged the side of Casey's scalp with his fingertips, "Have you had dreams about Gabby coming back before?"

"Coming back...still here...never left...is there much difference?" Casey asked.

"So that's a yes?"

"A few times."

"Do they all end the same way? You two sleeping together?"

"Usually...sometimes I dream she gets pregnant...and..."

He couldn't finish the thought, apparently he didn't need to. Kelly wrapped an arm around Casey's shoulders and held him tight against him and told him, "It's just a dream, Casey."

"What if it's not?" Matt asked. "What if she _did_ come back? And she wanted us to be together again? It's easy for me to think _now_ that she couldn't possibly get her hooks into me again...because she's not here and I don't have to worry about it...but what if it's true? What if I just went running back to her?"

"That would never happen," Kelly assured him.

"How do you know?" Casey asked.

"Because, if she ever _does_ come back to Chicago, and I doubt she will, I am not letting you anywhere near her," Kelly told him. "You can consider me the twin brother you never wanted, I won't let you out of my sight."

Casey half turned his head and looked at Kelly, then tiredly rested his head in the crook of Severide's neck and sheepishly said to him, "Thanks for not laughing at me about this."

"Hey, I get it," Kelly said, "Exes are hard...especially when you've been together as long as you two were...everything you went through together, I get it...I also know that that was the _worst_ long term relationship you ever had with a woman."

"Oh thanks," Casey dryly commented.

"No, no, I mean it, that's a living embodiment of a toxic relationship," Kelly told him, "that's your problem, Casey...you'll stay with someone even if they're completely wrong for you, because you're too nice of a guy, and you fall in love too easily."

"Look who's talking."

"That's different," Kelly chided him, "I know what I'm looking for when I meet a woman, you never got the hang of just meeting someone long enough for a good time and no commitment."

"I tried, they were miserable," Casey replied, "I _want_ a wife, I _want_ a family."

"I know that, but looking for it in Gabby was a mistake, that woman doesn't do commitment, she can't think past herself in terms of a relationship," Kelly told him. "That's why _I_ never hooked up with her."

Casey buried his face in Kelly's shoulder and weakly laughed.

"Kelly..."

"Yeah?"

"What if there _isn't_ anyone else?" Casey asked. "What if Gabby's the only woman I'll ever marry?"

"There are worse fates than being single, Casey," Kelly told him.

"But I don't like being single," Casey replied. "Oh, don't get me wrong, living with you has been great...but I want a wife, I want to have kids, and I thought I could have that with Gabby...what if there isn't another woman out there who wants me?"

Kelly hummed knowingly and said, "I think now we're getting to the root of this nightmare. Casey, your problem is you don't really put yourself out there to meet new people, you tend to settle for people who are already around that you're familiar with."

"What's wrong with that?"

"You run out of them after a while," Kelly answered. "Trust me, the right woman for you's out there somewhere, and when you meet her, you'll know it."

"I feel like time's running out, Kelly," Casey admitted to him. "I'm 40 years old already, divorced once, no kids, no woman in my life now...and I suck at meeting new ones."

Kelly smiled to himself and consolingly patted Casey on the back. "You'll find the right woman when you're not expecting it, it's nothing you need to worry about."

"But I do, Kelly," he replied.

"But you don't need to," Kelly repeated, "You're fine, everything's fine."

Casey rested his head on Kelly's shoulder and was slow to move it.

"You tired?"

Casey nodded against him.

"You want to go back to bed?" Kelly asked.

Casey shook his head and forced his eyes open, "I'm worried I'll have that same dream again."

"Alright then, let's see what's on TV," Severide said as he grabbed the remote and turned the TV on.

The answer was there was actually very little on at 3 in the morning that was worth watching. Most of it was infomercials or reruns of old sitcoms or daytime talk shows.

"Who exercises at 3 in the morning?" Casey asked as Kelly flipped through the channels and came to one for a high impact aerobics program.

"This guy," Kelly answered.

Casey leaned back against the couch and closed his eyes as he tried to stifle a yawn.

"Hey," Kelly nudged him with his elbow.

"Hmm," Casey forced his eyes open and weakly insisted, "I'm awake."

"Yeah, you're gonna be," Kelly said as he got up and moved the coffee table, "Come on, get up."

Sighing, Casey rubbed his eyes and stood up and joined Severide in copying the movements of the instructor on TV.

* * *

Kelly blearily opened his eyes and found himself sitting on the couch, and felt a weight pressing against him, and turning his head saw it was Casey. The clock on the wall said 5:30. Despite their efforts, they eventually fell asleep, and he hadn't heard a sound out of Casey since.

"Matt," he reached over and nudged Casey's shoulder, "Matt..."

"Hmm?" Casey was slow to wake up.

"You alright?"

Casey rubbed his eyes and finally got them open, and shut them again against the bright lights that had been left on in the living room, then he worked them open again and said, "I think so."

"Come on, let's get some coffee on," Kelly told him as he stood up.

Casey paused long enough to yawn and stretch, then followed Kelly to the kitchen and said to him, "So just to refresh my memory, what was a dream, and what's actually going on?"

"Basically anything you remember from last night, just forget it," Kelly answered as he turned the coffee maker on. "Things are still as 'normal' as they can get at 51."

"Thank God for small favors," Casey murmured.

"Yeah, another one is we don't have to go to work until tomorrow," Severide told him, "So after breakfast, we can just take it easy."

"Hmmm," Casey said, "I might go back to bed then."

"You look like you need it," Kelly said. "When you said you've had these dreams before, did you mean recently?"

Casey yawned again. "Some of them." He shook his head and told Severide, "I haven't been sleeping much lately. I've got a lot on my mind."

"Apparently," Kelly responded. He crossed over to Casey in three steps and pressed his fingers against the skin around Casey's eyes.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"You look terrible," Kelly said as he stretched the skin tight so Casey's eyes bugged out.

"Thanks, I love you too," Casey dryly commented as he slapped Kelly's hands away.

"I mean it, Matt, you _better_ get some sleep today, or there's no way in hell Boden will let you on shift tomorrow."

"Hmm," Casey swallowed another yawn, "definitely don't want that."

Kelly waited until they'd had a cup of coffee to ask Casey, "You hungry?"

Matt shook his head, "Not really."

"Me either. Come on."

"Where're we going?" Casey asked curiously.

"I'm going to put you back to bed, then I'm going back to sleep myself," Kelly answered.

"You're what?" Casey asked.

"Come on," Kelly grabbed him by the arm and led him back to his room.

"Kelly, this is ridiculous."

"So humor a tired firefighter and just do it," Severide told him as he walked Casey over to his bed, and even went the extra mile of tucking Casey in once he laid down.

Casey tiredly laughed, "You are impossible, Kelly."

"I know," he replied with a mischievous smirk on his face.

"Kelly..." Casey's voice suddenly became quiet. "If I need you...will you be here?"

Severide looked down at his friend and roommate and smiled assuredly, "I'm always here if you need me, Matt."

Casey's eyes were closed already though he wasn't asleep, he very weakly lifted his head off the pillow to nod.

He felt the lips press against his forehead but he was too tired to pay any attention to it.

"Go to sleep, Casey," Kelly softly told him.

Matt made a humming noise in his throat, without opening his eyes he slurred out tiredly, "'is not real...Gabby's not real...Gallo's not real...Otis' dying s'not real..."

"That's right, Matt," Kelly said slowly, as if he was addressing a child, "It was all a nightmare, and it's over now. It's safe to go back to sleep."

Casey still wouldn't open his eyes as he slurred out, "They di'n't happen, they're not gonna happen, they can' happen..."

Kelly nodded, "That's right, it's all over."

Casey was in a dead sleep before he took his next inhale. Kelly watched him for a minute, then headed for the door and turned the lights out to head back to his own bed for a couple more hours' sleep. He guessed he should be grateful given the lives they led that once in a while Casey could pick normal things to have nightmares about as opposed to what they regularly saw on calls, but based on what he'd seen last night, this had been a close second to that if it had enough power over Casey to make him that terrified of reliving the dream once he closed his eyes.

Kelly crawled back under the discarded comforter for his bed, maybe it was 80 degrees outside but he hadn't been ready to put it away for the season yet, and right now he felt a small chill. He alternated between watching the clock and listening for any sounds from Casey's room, but there were none, and after a while Kelly also fell back asleep, and was content to stay there until long after the sun was up. He hoped Casey would do the same, but if for whatever reason he couldn't, Kelly would be there to help him through it.


End file.
